Divine Path System

A synergy session with Sarah ended after an hour. Though it could've delved into something more intimate, Varian didn't go on.

Dual cultivation with a rank 7 powerhouse in three paths was more fruitful than he thought.

Including the default Time path, Sarah was going the path of Life Spirit as opposed to Death Spirit which was also an option for a Forcender. And of course, < Light path > evolved into < Energy path > and now it's the < Chaos path >.

Sarah benefitted greatly from the slivers through Synergy despite their rank differences.

[Adept Rank 5: 250/2500 (+50)

Assimilator Rank 5: 525/2500 (+25)

Binder Rank 5: 0/2500

< Your soul bonding became the last straw that broke the bottleneck. Unexpected but not unwelcome>

Energy Rank 5: 250/2500 (+250)

< This is called leeching off your wife >

Matter Rank 5: 50/2500 (+50)

Space Rank 5: 100/2500

Time Rank 5: 300/2500 (+250)

< How about you just lie down and let her do all the work? The System is referring to divine paths, do not have perverted thoughts, Host> ]

Varian's lips twitched at the running commentary.

'Logos, are you fine?'

[Yes, I am fine.]

'Are you so bored these days that you began adding these commentaries to the status panel?'

[ '…' ]

A deep silence followed before a cold snort and the System stopped responding.

'Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You were locked up for so long. It's normal to grow bored. Write whatever you want, okay?'

[Boredom is only for lowly mortals. As the fusion of tw—]

'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' Varian nodded carelessly. 'I get it, it's a self-esteem issue. Relax lass, I'm not going to judge.'

[L-Lass?]

Logos' usual cold voice was breaking, as if it could not believe the blasphemous words uttered.

'Yes, lass. How are you, lass? Are you bored, lass? Do you want me to chat with you, lass?' Varian grinned, stressing on that very word.

[...If you have so much free time, get rid of your enemies instead of bullying this harmless, innocent and pitiful system.] A sweet, soft, and young voice replied in a crying tone.

Varian almost choked on his saliva. 'What the fuck are you doing?'

[Repaying, Master~] The soft, sweet voice rang again.

'No, please.' The contrast was too great. His heart couldn't take it.

[Why, Master? Do you like this tone then?] It turned a bit seductive and husky.

Varian clutched his head and slumped on the floor.

'Can we please talk like civilized people?'

[Nyaa~]

'No, no. Don't start that!'

[Master~ Master~ Master~] An obsessive voice sounded, filled with possessiveness that one would expect from a yandere who's ready to kill you and herself.

Varian shivered with goosebumps and knew he couldn't let this play go on any longer. 'You win, Logos.'

[Hmph!] A cold snort sounded, pride and arrogance dripping heavily.

'But one day…' Varian raised his hand to the sky and vowed. 'One day, I will grow resistance to them and defeat your malicious schemes.'

[Heh.]

He couldn't see it but the System must be smirking right now.

Varian clenched his fist. 'Don't underestimate me. I have a dream that one day…'

Boom!

A loud explosion rang and Varian immediately scanned his surroundings for the source.

"Eh?"

It was coming from one of the screens displaying Zion's state.

"Oh fuck!"

— — — —

Just a while ago:

The Zion capital system residents despaired at the inevitable death that was slowly snatching away their lives.

Oleg panicked as he watched the land of his dreams slowly vanish into the embrace of death.

"No!"

"Something!"

"There should be something!"

The Prince's panicked cries were drowned in the shrieks of the military members.

While the older and experienced ones stayed calm even in this catastrophic situation and tried to think of a way out, the newcomers grew restless.

"Space portal!" Someone suddenly shouted.

"Yes, there should be an emergency teleportation formation!"

"Duke Jataur was such a coward, so there should be something for him to escape in case of emerg—"

Boom!

A middle-aged Zion exploded into pieces of meat and bones.

Oleg glared at the crowd with fiery eyes. "Forget in the face of death, even after death, don't you dare malign my father."

The veterans frowned at his excessive use of force. But they couldn't keep contradicting him at this point.

"Duke, if there is a space portal in the palace, we can use it to temporarily retreat and plan for a counterattack. Moreover, the kingdom's forces must be on the way already.

So, we just have to hold on for a while before teaching this invader the methods of our torture. He'd realize and beg how big of a mistake it was to attack the duchy under your rule."

The essence was the same but the words sounded much more pleasant and even a bit flattering.

Oleg couldn't help but nod at the veteran and take out a crescent blade. "This is the access key of the duke, it should show if there are any hidden space portals anywhere."

With a click, the blade glowed and shook violently before calming down.

[Access denied]

"W-What?!" Oleg's face dried up and his eyes turned bloodshot. "Bullshit, I'm the duke, obviously I sho—"

[Duke Jataur is the Duke. Until his passing or voluntary retirement, you will not be a Duke.]

"Then why did I get the permissions so far?"

[Duke Jataur allowed it, until now. From now on, he doesn't.]

Oleg collapsed onto his knees and looked at the sky with hollow eyes. "W-Why? Father? Why?"

As if responding to his desperate plea, a planet in the star system suddenly glowed with a brilliant light, even outshining the overwhelming green light.

Then, a red beam of power shot from the planet, enveloping the green 'star' before it could react.

The green star disappeared right away. The star system fell into darkness once again.

Only this time, instead of the scary green light, the warmth of the six stars filled with vacuum.

Boom!

A shockwave swept the star system a few minutes later, nearly knocking the planets out of their orbits.

Looking at the location where the green star used to be, Oleg finally understood that he was living in his own delusion.

His father hadn't given up. He was just for these 'hunters' to take the bait and destroy them.

"Haa! Haa! Haa!"

Just beyond the borders of the capital star system of Zions, a lump of wriggling flesh appeared.

"Merov!"

"Merov!"

The old voice rang impatiently but got no response. After confirming that he had fallen into a coma, the old voice's usual kindness disappeared, instead, a voice full of contempt and disgust sounded.

"Stupid son of a bitch! You can't even handle this! If I didn't help you take that attack, you'd have died! Fucking died in this shitty place! Useless piece of shit you are!

The worst of worst you are! If I hadn't picked you up, forget being the most favored prince, you wouldn't even be worth the prince's butler's butler's butler!"

After venting his anger, the old voice drew a deep sigh and then turned its attention back to the star system.

"But who would've thought, even with all the caution I exercised, Zion's Duke had something like that up their sleeve. Three formations meant to kill peak rank 7s…it's madness."